Apparatus for burning solid carbonaceous fuel



C. J. MOIR APPARATUS FOR BURNING SOLID CARBONACEOUS FUEL Qct. 1, 1935.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 7, 1932 INVENTOR TORNEY Oct. 1, 1935. c.. J.MOIR APPARATUS FOR BURNING SOLID CARBONACEOUS FUEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 vFiled June 7, 1932 Oct. 1, 1935. M m 2,015,756

APPARATUS FOR BURNING SQLID CARBONACEOUS FUEL Filed June 7, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet 3 I I IINV.ENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 1, 1935 UNITEDSTATES PATENT APPARATUS FOR BURNING SOLID CARBONACEOUS FUEL Charles J.Moir, New York, N. Y., assignor to Flameking Company, Incorporated, NewYork,

N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June '1, 1932, Serial N6.615,809 11 Claims. (01. 126-145) operating advantages over those knownatpres- Other objects and advantages of the invention will appearhereinafter. A preferredembodiment of the invention selected forpurposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich,

Figure l is a section on the line l-l of Figure 2, partly broken awayand partly in plan to better illustrate the construction. 20 Figure 2 isa section on the line 2--2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a front elevation.

Figure 4 is a sectional view illustrating the side sections adjusted fora larger size fire box.

Figure 5 is a detail view showing the support- 25 mg hangers. Figure 6is asemi-diagrammatic view illustrating the method of combustion.

From time immemorial it has been almost universal practicein burningsolidcarbonaceous 30 fuel to cause-air to penetrate and move through athe fuel bed inorder to support combustion. This is usually accomplishedby admitting air to the bottornofthe fuel bed. It hasalso been proposedto' so support the fuel bed that air might be ad- 35 mitted to the sidesof the fuel bed in order to improve combustion, but so far as I amaware, such admission of air to the sides of the fuel bed "has alwaysbeen accompanied by direct admission ":of air to the bottom of the fuelbed, so that in 40 any event'there'was substantial movement/of airthrough the fuel bed.

According to the present invention itisproposed to substantiallyeliminate movement of "air through the fuel bed by preventing the admis-'Qsion of air to the bottom of the fuel bed, and by permitting admissionof air to the sides of the fuel bed insuch manner that instead ofpenetratingand moving through the fuel bed, theair ffinoves' along thesides of the fuelbed; As'thisair 50 oves' alongthe sides of the'fuelbed, combusti on occurs which distills and liberates gas from *the fuellying immediately above. This gasin turn moves along the sides of thefuel bed, and is xed with additional quantities of air, after 55 whichthe mixture is conducted to a point above the fuel bed Where it isburned.

- he above described method of burning will be more fully explained inconnection with the following description of an apparatus inwhich themethod may practiced.

Referring to the drawings, the, firepot been illustrated as applied to asubstantially circular fire box; but it will be understood that themethod involved, as well as some of thestructural features of theinvention may be applied tofire pots 5 adapted to be fitted into fireboxes of other shapes. The fire pot comprises generally a supportingmember, as for example, the ring, I, upon which are mounted a. pluralityof side sections: 2 forming the side walls of the pot. Also mounted m onthe ring I is a member 3 of a. size tofillthe-e central aperture of thering I so as to support the fuel bed from beneath. The entire assemblymay be supported in the fire box in any suitable manner, as for example,by means ofhangers 4 which 15 may be designed to fit into the ordinarygrate bare 1 sockets of stoves and furnaces of standard construction.

The side sections 2 comprise an arcuate upper member 5 and an arcuatelower memberrlL-the upper and lower 'members being connectedibyw meansof spaced grate bars]. The saidbarslare preferablyformed with onecross-sectionaLdimension greater than the other, as for example,

substantially pear-shaped in cross section, "and stand substantiallyvertical-:for more than'half of their length, and then areflaredoutwardly to their points of connection with the upper member -5.

i A feature of importance in connection with the construction of'theside sections relates to'the pro-v vision of spaces 8 between the bars Iso arranged that in addition to providing for free 'fi'ow of air and gasinto and out of the fire pot, a; poker .may be easily inserted betweenthe bars'for "firing purposes.

The doors provided for this-- purpose'in most furnaces are quite small,and

consequently the range of movement of the poker is small, and it isimportant that the poker beadmitte'd through as many bars as possible.".For 40 this purpose,the bars of the side sections are :so arrangedthat when they are projected on the chord of the arc of the section, theprojected bars are substantially equally -spaced and thespa'ces aresubstantially equal in width. Furthermore, in cases where the bars haveone cross-sectional dimension greater than the other, as illustrated inthe preferred embodiment herein, the bars are preferably so arrangedthat vertical planes through the longer cross sectional. dimension lieparallel to one another and perpendicular togther' chord of the arc. inthis manner, as 'illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, adequate space isprovided between each of the bars for the reception of a poker insertedthrough the usual doors provided for the purpose. The above constructionalso re-"= .ducesthe cost of theside section castings due to the factthat when so constructed, the pattern may be removed from the moldwithout breaking the mold. Q9

- standard dimensions.

According to the present invention it is desired to providespaces-between the upper members 5 and the wall of the firebox, in orderto permit flow of air and gas therebetween as hereinafter explained. Forthis purpose, for use in connec-' tion with smooth walled fireboxes, theperiphery of the upper member of the side sections may also be providedwith spaced lugs 9 which contact with the side walls of the firebox,thus providing the spaces) for the passage of air and gas.

It will be understood, however, that when used with corrugatedfireboxes, it may not be necessary to provide the lugs 9, because thecorrugations themeselves may provide adequate space for the passage ofair and gas.

The lower member 6 of each side section is 7 preferably provided-with abevelled bottom face II as illustrated in Figure 2, in order that whenthe side sections are secured to the ring by means 'of bolts l2, thesetting up of the bolts will cause the side sections to tilt outwardlyin order that the outer periphery of the upper member may be broughtinto contact with the side wall of the fire box Since the side sectionsare secured only atthe bottom, the upper portions are free to expand andcontract as necessary under varying heat conditions.

' The supporting ring I is provided with a plurality of aperturesthrough which the side sections may be secured to the ring. In theembodimentillustrated in the drawings, in order to provide a wide rangeof adjustability, three series of apertures are provided, each beingarranged circumferentially around the ring, and designated byreferencenumerals I3, IA and I5. The positions of these series of apertures areso arranged that'side sections of fixed standard dimensions may befitted to furnaces of widely varying di- This may be done by socalculating the radii of circles passing through the apertures of eachseries that the circumference of each circle is a whole multiple ofthelength of the arc of the bottom member of a side section of Thus, asillustrated in the drawings, the series of apertures 13 is arrangedalong a circle whose radius is such that six side sections of standarddimensions may be accommodated, with the end of the bottom member ofeach side section abutting fairly closely the end of the bottom memberof the next adjacent side section as illustrated in Figure l. The radiusof the second series of apertures I l is-so calculated that the circlepassing through the said series of apertures will accommodate seven sidesections of standard dimensions. Similarly, as illustrated in Figure 4,the radius of the third series of apertures I5 is so calculated that thecircle passing through the said series of apertures will accommodateeight side sections of standard dimen- R. being the radius of thecircle, X being the number of side sections, and 0 being the length ofthe are of the bottom member of a standard side section. Solving for R,we find As will be observed, by using the above formula, the radiiof anyseries of apertures may be calculated for any desired number of sidesections having any desired length of arc.

Due to the provision of the bevelled face ll tures.

attlie bottom of the side sections, a limited range of adjustability'isprovided'when the side sections are secured along'any given series ofaper- Thus when the side sections are secured to series it, asillustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the range of adjustability is suchthat the side sections may be fitted to a fire box of any insidediameter from that equal to the diameter of the circle formed by theupper members 5 when abutting end to end, up to that sufiicient toaccommodate the side sections when mounted on the second series ofapertures. Similarly, the range of adjustability in that position issuch that the side sections may be fitted to a fire box of any insidediameter up to that sufiicient to accom- 15, modate the side sectionswhen mounted on the third series of apertures.

As will be observed, in Figures 1 and2, when the side sections aretilted outwardly in making. such adjustments, a V-shaped space appearsbetween the adjacent ends of the upper portions of the side sections,but this space in most cases isn-ot sufiiciently large to beobjectionable. If it. is too large, however, it may be filled by a V--shaped insert piece which may be secured to the side sections in anysuitable manner.

When the side sections are securedto the ring along the series M, theapertures of series I3. may be filled either with metal inserts, orwith. cement in order to prevent admission of substantial quantities ofair to the bottom of the fuel bed, and similarly, when the side sectionsare secured to the ring along the series l5, the apertures of series l3and i i should both be filled for the same; reason. 35

The fire bed is supported at the bottom by a member 3 which ispreferablycone-shaped as illustrated in the drawings. The said member may beprovided with trunnions l8 and I9 which rest; in sockets 2E! and 21formed in the ring I in order that the said grate may be rocked fromside to side, when it is desired to shake the fire.

, a plurality of hangers 4 having 9. lug 23 adapted;

to fit into the grate bar socket 24 of a furnace of 5 ordinaryconstruction, and having a horizontal flange 25 provided with aperturesthrough which it may be bolted to the ring I at any convenient locationas illustrated in Figure 5. The length of the flange 25 may be adjustedas necessary to 0 suit various conditions in various installations.

The operation of the apparatus and the method of burning will beexplained with particular reference to Figure 6 in which the location ofthe burning areas and the general directions of flow of 5 the air andgas have been indicated by long and short dash lines respectively.

7 As will be observed, air enters the fire pot along flow lines a,coming from below the fire pot and entering the fire pot through thespaces between the bars I and flowing in a direction substantially alongthe flow line b, although it will be under- 75.

stood that in practice this space will ordinarily be filled and closedby deposits of ashes. The air entering along the lines a and 1) comes incontact with the body of incandescent coke lying in the area indicatedgenerally by c where it is consumed, thus supplying heat to the fuelarea d lying immediately above the coked area and causing the evolutionof gas therefrom. This gas also flows along the sides of the fuel bedand emerges from the fire pot through the spaces between the bars 1, asindicated by flow lines e, in-

- stead of moving upward through the fuel bed d because the said gas canmove more freely in that direction than it can through the closelypacked fuel bed. Some slight amount of gas may emerge through the outeredge of the fuel bed, as indicated, for example, by the fiow line I,because of the thinness of the fuel bed at that point, but this amountwill be small.

As the gas emerges from the fire pot it is mixed with air flowing upwardalong the line g, and the mixture, which is highly inflammable, isconducted through the spaces ID to a point above the fuel bed where itis burned in the area indicated by h.

It Will be observed that the relatively small amount of air entering thepot through the space between the member 3 and the ring I follows thesame general direction as the main flow of air which enters through thesides of the fire pot. In the event that the side sections are mountedon one of the outer series of apertures I4 or I5 the same result occurs,for even if the said apertures are not filled as previously described,they soon become filled by deposits of ash, and the quantity of airadmitted is relatively small. But even if the apertures are open, theflow of air therethrough follows the general direction indicated by theflow lines in Figure 6.

It is important, however, to prevent the admission of air to the centralportion of the fuel bed, because in that case the burning action wouldbe similar to ordinary furnaces and fire pots in which air entersthrough the grate and moves upward through the fuel bed. I have foundthat the fuel may be burned more efficiently and with greater generalsatisfaction if air is caused to move along the sides of the fuel bed ashereinbefore described, rather than through the fuel bed.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified andembodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of side sections, a ring forsupporting said side sections, and means for securing said side sectionsto said ring along a plurality of spaced concentric rows, said rowsbeing so spaced from the center of the ring that the circumferentialdistance around the ring at each-row is substantially an even multipleof the arcuate length of the bottom of one side section.

2. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of side sec tions, a ring forsupporting said side sections, said ring having apertures thereinarranged in con centric circumferential rows, the radii of said rowsbeing such that the circumferential distance around each row issubstantially an even multiple of the arcuate length of the bottom ofone side section, and means for securing said side sections to said ringthrough said apertures.

3. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of side sections, a ring forsupporting said'side sections, said ring having apertures thereinarranged in con- 5 centric circumferential rows, the radii of said rowsbeing substantially equal to the arcuate length of the bottom of oneside section multiplied by the number of side sections and divided bytwo pi, and means for securing said sections to said ring through saidapertures.

4. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of side sections, a ring forsupporting said side sections, and means for securing said side sectionsto said ring at any one of a plurality of different distances from thecenter of the ring, whereby the fire pot may be adjusted to furnaces ofdifferent sizes.

5. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of side sections, a ring forsupporting said side sections, said ring having apertures thereinarranged in spaced circumferential rows, and means to secure said sidesections to said ring along any one of said rows, whereby the fire potmay be adjusted to furnaces of different sizes.

6. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of side sections, a member forsupporting said side sections, and means for securing said side sectionsto said member, each of said side sections having a bevelled bottomsurface permitting said sections to tilt outwardly toward the furnacewall as said securing means is tightened.

7. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of side sections, a member forsupporting said side sections, said member having apertures therein,bolts for securing said side sections to said member through saidapertures, each of said side sections having a bevelled bottom surfacepermitting said sections totilt outwardly toward the furnace wall whensaid bolts are set up.

8. A fire pot comprising, a plurality of arcuate members togetherforming a circumferential enclosure, each member including a pluralityof longitudinal bars and connecting arcuate members, the bars of eachmember being elongated in cross-section with the major cross-sectionalaxis of each bar parallel to that of the other bars of that member.

9. A side section for a circular fire pot comprising, an arcuate uppermember, an arcuate lower member, spaced bars between and connecting saidmembers, said bars having one cross-sectional dimension greater than theother, said bars being so arranged that vertical planes through thelonger cross-sectional dimension will be perpendicular to the chord ofthe arc of the lower member.

10. A side section for a circular fire pot comprising, an arcuate uppermember, an arcuate lower member, spaced bars between and connecting saidmembers, said bars being so arranged that when projected on the chord ofthe arc of said lower member, the projected bars are substantially.equally spaced.

11. A side section for a fire pot comprising a plurality ofsubstantially parallel bars, arcuate 5 connecting members joining theends of said bars, said bars being elongated in cross-section, thelonger cross-sectional axes of said bars being substantially parallel toeach other and lying perpendicular to the chord of the arc.

CHARLES J. MOIR.

